Glute exercises

drewfromrisca

I have very small almost non-existent glutes! Can anyone recommend any exercises that will help build them up. I've searched online but I just seem to find the women calasthnetics (or however you say it) type in their leotards.

Limburger

Squats and leg presses my friend.

Leotards are optional.

Wooliferkins

http://www.netfit.co.uk/fitness/exercis ... /index.htm

drewfromrisca

Helpful, cheers.

hopper1

Limburger wrote:

Squats and leg presses my friend.

Leotards are optional.

+1

Pokerface

I think lunges work on the glutes too.

jp1985

Squats are good but it needs to be a full squat where your thighs break a below parrallel to the ground to get full glute activation.

Lunges are good but do them walking, coming up to the front foot rather than in place and going pushing back up onto the back foot.

Dead lifts are aslo good and so are single leg squats if you can control the knee when you do them

bompington

Put your saddle right down & keep cycling

huuregeil

+1 full squats. Don't do back squats, do overhead or front squats, as they promote better form. With a back squat you can go too heavy with bad form and this can do you damage - impossible to do with either a front or overhead!

+1 single leg squat variants. Best of these is probably the bench squat (possibly with weight), because a full single leg squat is a toughie. Trailing foot goes up on a bench, front foot is well forward, get the knee of the trailing leg on the floor (like a lunge only slower and your feet don't move). Focus on keeping the weight on the heel of the front foot, and the knee of the front leg stable. Use lunges as a warm up. These will fry your glutes :-)

The other advantage to doing lunges or bench squats, is that they also promote hip flexor flexibility, the flip side to weak glutes.

+1 deadlifts, particularly the straight leg variants, and also single leg variants. Need to be careful with form here, otherwise you miss (or compensate with a shrug) the final "hump the bar" bit that's critical for glute activation. Also good form for injury avoidance, otherwise you do your back in!

Also bridges.

This should be all you need!

ut_och_cykla

Lunges focus on glutes, squats require some depth and leg press requires correct positioning of feet to get at glutes more than quads. Hip lifts (lie on back feet near bum, press up with hips, use swiss ball or bench to raise feet and make harder, or do one legged) also reputed to be good but you feel like a twit doing them.....

If you really seriosuly lack glute musculatur it might be worth a trip to to teh physio to make sure there are no structural issues in stance or posture that are causing lack of muscle.

If you are a cyclist and your glutes /quads are just not in proportion, your saddle could be set wrong so in effect only your quads are working .

Skippy2309

easiest way is squats, most of my leg mass was built up just using my body weight, Hill sprints, squats to a leg raise (alternating) stair climbs etc. all can be done with out a gym.

As for gym based, Squats you dont have to go stupidly deep, below 90 degrees and your risking damaging your knee joint. Leg press singles work better as you will often tend to push harder with one leg than the other (dont lock out the leg) get as close as you can to the plate so your pushing from deep. Lunges with the barbell across your shoulders you want quite long lunges.

weight is upto you, I sometimes go to 220kg on the squats, 160ish on the lunges and heaviest leg press 280kg... I am training for power so loads of big numbers just dont get into a typical who can lift more scenario or you will hurt yourself, i did on a chest press and its not been the same since!!!

Ask someone who works in the gym for a hand with technique as you do risk seriously hurting yourself if you do it wrong.